Sunday, December 30, 2012

I have strayed. It has been over eighteen months since my last blog. In a weird way it was one of those light bulb moment ideas that was a no brainier that went horribly wrong when put in to action.

I went to the dark side, I bought an I Pad.

I have been using computers since the late 80's. Started a HP-PC then tried a Mac in the early 90's. Did not know at the time Mac had gone to shit after Mr. Jobs had left. That left a bad impression and I wandered back to the PC's. I have slogged through desktops, laptops, notebooks, hard drive replacements, power supply replacements, routers, extenders, printers, scanners, Windows 98, XP, Vista 32, Vista 64, 7 basic and then seven pro when M/S so generously “gave” me 7 Pro for the $100 I had to pay the to ask them why the 7 Basic as such a piece of shit. I actually had a phone conversation in which I was told by a tech support “specialist” that I had to turn the computer of twice a day to allow the electricity inside to take a break, regroup and go back to work when I turned the computer back on. That surprisingly was not nearly as insulting as when my cable provider repair guy took a cable splitter out of my hand and gently bounced it in the palm of his had and said “ here is your problem, the splitter is no good, you can tell by the weight, it’s lighter when it is all used up”. ??? I shit you not. I have been working with electronics for thirty years, I eagerly passed his diagnosis along to his supervisor as he drove off. I hate computers. I digress.

So imagine the moment when you realize you can turn on your I Pad, check and answer your e-mails, check your blog and Flickr stats ( I am a stats whore), catch up on your "words with friends" and read the local news all before the tiny guys in the laptop can shovel up enough electrons to bring the leviathan to a full head of steam. Stepping out from the PC fog to a touch tablet was like the landing in Oz and seeing in color. Then there were the APPS! The I Pad had so many shiny things my fourteen pound lap heater with a sticky “W” just lost out. Kicked to the corner to collect dust for months, cold and lonely.

While this electronic platform battle was all going on so did life . I collected thousands of photos and dozens of blog seeds and less time to write. The last straw came today when my wife told me “no more ANGRY BIRDS until I see the birds from Florida”. That was thirteen months ago we went to Florida. So, as warmup exercise to get the “w” and the now sticking “m” limber up as well as the lethargic electrons here is a recap of the last year with the promise to come back from the dark side and get back to getting the blogs out. I have to go back to the PC, make amends and get going.

Angy Birds

I installed a new fountain this spring. The first visitor as over joyed and played in the water for hours before another hummer found the oasis. The our little girl here got very angry.

Airspace over the house is jealously protected. This Osprey toyed with the crow following it, letting it catch up then darting away. The crow never had a chance.

Sibling Crow were scuffling on the tide flat while looking for food. The lack of pigment in the collective feathers may be an indication of a poor diet while still in the nest.

Nobody should mess with these angry birds.

Back patrolling the airspace a Red Tailed Hawk just swooped in and took a mouse that belonged to the crow's territory. The hawk did not kill the mouse when it caught it. Flying big slow circles over the yard with a screaming mouse in it's mouth the hawk drove the crows in to a frenzy.

Do I look happy?

Nobody gets to pass for free, even if you are a cousin. These to crows escort a passing raven out of their airspace.

Should I be happy? I live in a hole in the ground.

It is not the size of the bird in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the bird.

A lowly Red Winged Blackbird chases after a completely oblivious Bald Eagle the just happened to pass to low over the blackbird.s nest